Lithium is intercalated into many host materials. One of these intercalation materials is vanadium pentoxide (V.sub.2 O.sub.5).
Sol-gel processing has become a common method to prepare macromolecular inorganic network materials via hydrolysis and condensation reactions that start from molecular precursors such as organometallic compounds or inorganic salts. Vanadium pentoxide gels have received significant attention because they serve as host materials for a wide variety of metal cations and as conductive, anti-static coatings in the photographic and information storage industries. Crystalline V.sub.2 O.sub.5 (c-V.sub.2 O.sub.5) has a low capacity for reversible insertion of lithium (Li), about 1 Li ion per mole of the host, and irreversible phase changes are induced by intercalation (lithium insertion) outside this limited composition window. V.sub.2 O.sub.5 xerogels have been heretofore synthesized by sol-gel routes that have been shown to have a larger capacity for Li insertion (2 ions but appreciably less than 3 ions of Li per mole of V.sub.2 O.sub.5, i.e., 2.4). Complete reversibility of these insertions has not been possible.